@jarulf@mstdn.social
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jarulf

@[email protected]

I work in a used books shop and read mostly Science fiction and fantasy, but not exclusively.
I game a bit, but wouldn't call myself a gamer. My favourite game over the past several years is #TheLongDark

Interested, but not very knowledgeable about Walkability, 15 min city, rewilding.

I have some issues with physical pain as well as social anxiety.

#fedi22 #manga #books #Bookstodon #Urbanism #Cities #Walkability #Rewilding #Ttrpg #RuneQuest #RQ #Glorantha

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templetongate, to bookstodon
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I've read the 11th, but hopefully not the last, Penric & Desdemona story by Lois McMaster Bujold. I would welcome more, at least another novel to wrap things up.

http://templetongate.net/penric4.htm#knot

@bookstodon

jarulf,
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@templetongate @bookstodon I'm eagerly waiting for Baen's next collection.

jarulf,
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@templetongate @bookstodon
I have Labors, but haven't kept up with what has come after. My shop sends me an email when something new has come in, and I haven't heard anything yet about the two you mentioned. I just assumed they were still kindle only.

jarulf,
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@templetongate @bookstodon yes, and that's the collection I'm waiting for. 😃

jarulf, to bookstodon
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@bookstodon I finished a book last night that I didn't really enjoy. Not the story, nor the writing. It wasn't too long and it was entertaining enough that I didn't drop it though.

Then I picked up Fool's Assassin by #RobinHobb and it's such a pleasure to dive into a book by someone who truly knows how to write one.
And visiting loved characters again, of course.

#IAmReading #Bookstodon #SFF

jarulf,
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@bookstodon finished Fool's Assassin last night and loved it. It may actually be my favourite in the whole series.

jarulf, to bookstodon
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@bookstodon
Almost halfway through Empire in Black and Gold by @aptshadow and really enjoying it.
It's an audio book, on a streaming service so I fear neither author nor narrator get paid anything (basically).
I'll probably buy the whole series as ebooks later.
It's weird though, I started listening to it a year or so ago and just couldn't get into it and dropped it fairly quickly. So glad I gave it a second chance.
#WhatIAmReading #Bookstodon

jarulf, to bookstodon
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@bookstodon
Rare book donations sought for auction to help Ukraine booksellers
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/20/rare-book-donations-sought-for-auction-to-help-ukraine-booksellers?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

jarulf, to bookstodon
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For #Philately to grab a younger audience there needs to be a cool #Manga about it.
@bookstodon @philately

templetongate, to bookstodon
@templetongate@mastodonbooks.net avatar

Penric is in peril, but he also has to safeguard two orphan girls. Another example of how a sorcerer can be resourceful, powerful, but also compassionate. Recommended.

http://templetongate.net/penric3.htm#orphans

#bookstodon @bookstodon

jarulf,
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@aprilfollies @templetongate @bookstodon this is one of my favourite stories in one of my favourite series. Much as I love the Vorkosigan stories, I think I prefer these ones.

jarulf,
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@susanneanette @aprilfollies @templetongate @bookstodon yes, that is exactly how I feel. The characters in the Penric stories feel a lot more like actual people. The Vorkosigan ones are over the top, fun and crazy space opera, but with some serious themes to them. They aren't really comparable in that they are not intended to be the same sort of thing.

Lullaby, to bookstodon
@Lullaby@greenmushroomnetwork.masto.host avatar

How can I get some out of @thestorygraph ?

Am I missing something? I feel like I am all alone in there. My profile linked below ⬇️

https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/reading_lullaby

@bookstodon

jarulf,
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@Lullaby @thestorygraph @bookstodon
I think is a bit more focused on the social aspects than The Storygraph. I use both but haven't really explored that

jarulf, to bookstodon
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@bookstodon
I really want to read the next Penric and Desdemona collection by Lois McMaster Bujold. I think she only publishes the individual stories on Amazon.

Enjoying Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher right now, though.



jarulf,
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@willaful @bookstodon Not sure those are available here in Sweden. Besides, the book I want to read hasn't even been published yet 😉 Not even positive there is one in the works.

jarulf,
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@willaful @bookstodon oh, no worries. 😃

jarulf, to bookstodon
@jarulf@mstdn.social avatar

@bookstodon

I have very faint memories of a book I read in the 80's. It's not that it was terribly good, but I think I was amused by it and it's been nagging me that I can't remember what book it was.

All I remember is that there were Orcs running around in Berkeley and the protagonist was a young man.

It was your typical 80's paperback, possibly Del Rey.

It's obviously an extremely long shot, but does this ring any bells?

jarulf,
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@diazona @bookstodon thanks for the tip.
I'm not really expecting anything to come of this, seeing how little I remember of the book, but you never know.

Also very grateful to everyone who's been boosting my op.

jarulf,
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@avirr @bookstodon I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure it was neither of them. It may have been someone fairly well known, but it's been so long I may not remember who it was even if someone gets it right.
Thanks though.
The orcs may have come through into Berkeley through a particular building, serving as the gate from their world.

jarulf,
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@avirr @bookstodon 😄 no, I don't think it was.
I have no idea why it stuck in my mind, it's not even that I'm particularly eager to read it again. Just want to scratch that itch of not knowing, I guess.

jarulf,
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@dance_along_the_edge @avirr @bookstodon Thanks for the suggestion, but nope, that's definitely not it.
I don't think it had the word orc in the title, which may even have been a single word.
My brain suggests 'Threshold', but that's highly suspect, and a quick search doesn't really yield anything that seems to fit.

jarulf, to bookstodon
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I fully support the #Radchaai position on coffee.
@bookstodon

jarulf, to bookstodon
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Oh dear.
I got it into my head to check a few of the entries in my library on and fix a few errors.

There goes the weekend.

@bookstodon

jarulf,
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@Kencf618033 @bookstodon in what way? I'm not in the US if you're referring to Labor Day.
Still, it is a good weekend for it, I took Friday off and don't work on Mondays.

I did almost half, mostly fixing obvious oddities, now I'm spending the rest of the day reading instead.

jarulf,
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@Kencf618033 @bookstodon the best kind. :-)

lunalein, to bookstodon
@lunalein@federatedfandom.net avatar

August : a bad month for sleep, a good month for reading. Very most favorites starred.

Space Invaders - Nona Fernández
Like a Sister - Kellye Garrett
Translation State - Ann Leckie
A House With Good Bones - T. Kingfisher
Dirtbag, Massachusetts - Isaac Fitzgerald
We Don't Know Ourselves - Fintan O'Toole*
Lay Your Body Down - Amy Suiter Clarke
All-Night Pharmacy - Ruth Madievsky*
A Free Man of Color - Barbara Hambly
Fire Rush - Jacqueline Crooks
The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
Camp Zero - Michelle Min Sterling
The Taiga Syndrome - Cristina Rivera Garza*
Fire Season - KD Casey
The Rachel Incident - Caroline O'Donoghue*
Crooked Plow - Itamar Vieira Junior
Lone Women - Victor LaValle*
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - James McBride
Between Two Moons - Aisha Abdel Gawad
Tell Me What I Am - Una Mannion
Gone to the Wolves - John Wray*

@bookstodon

jarulf,
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@lunalein @bookstodon that's... a lot. Impressive.
Reading Translation State by @ann_leckie right now and really enjoying it about half way through.

jarulf,
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@lunalein @bookstodon Right, I imagine it would be the same for me.
They are very close to converging now, I think. It may not be her most impressive book (sorry if you're reading this), but I like it so far.

jarulf, to bookstodon
@jarulf@mstdn.social avatar

@bookstodon
I use #Linux as the main OS on my computers, but also use Windows 10 on one.
For the sole reason to download the #ebooks I buy.
I play the occasional Windows-only game as well, but those I can do without.
I can't do without ebooks.
I really, really wish there was an open standard for getting any ebook, with or without #drm, onto any device without having to rely on a single piece of software from one company.
#EU, do something!
#DailyRant #PetPeeve #ADE #AdobeDigitalEditions

jarulf,
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@Nevil @bookstodon I do. But as far as I know you can't download books with it, not from say, Kobo.
I download books on Win with ADE then import them in Calibre on Linux.

jarulf,
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@62885088530343 @bookstodon because I like to support the writer.

jarulf,
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@62885088530343 @bookstodon I could but that's not the point.
Anyone should be able to buy and download ebooks, without having to use a specific tool. Regardless of the OS they use.

jarulf,
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@ericsfraga @picard @bookstodon excellent. I don't use a Kindle either

jarulf,
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@ericsfraga @picard @bookstodon while I haven't visited in several years (I think), it has always been a useful site ime.

jarulf,
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@ericsfraga @picard @bookstodon pretty much the same here. I have used Kobo devices for several years and have been very happy with them

jarulf,
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@demerara @stepfister @josh @bookstodon I had it working in the past, but a few computers and Linux distros later it's been a no go for me.

jarulf,
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@demerara @picard @ericsfraga @bookstodon thank you for telling us about this and for being generally helpful. I really appreciate this.

skaeth, to bookstodon
@skaeth@writing.exchange avatar

@bookstodon I need #BookRecommendations please! I’m looking for low #fantasy recommendations. Romance can be there but I want plenty of adventure & banter to go along with it. Nothing epic- magic should take a back seat and it’d be amazing if the main character did not have magic at all. Best if MC is not royal/deity/etc.

The closest thing I’ve read to this is Intisar Khanani’s The Dauntless Path series (which is amazing and I highly recommend). Anything else like it?

#Bookstodon #FantasyBooks

jarulf,
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@fskornia @skaeth @bookstodon just piping up to add my vote for Guy Gavriel Kay, one of my favourite writers.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon the fit may not be perfect but Robin Hobb and her Realm of the Elderling series?

jarulf,
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@CommonMugwort @bookstodon @Da_Gut @skaeth Just headed over to Kobo and grabbed a copy of Steerswoman. And it was really cheap too.
I have a mile high TBR pile (who doesn't?) but maybe I can squeeze it in somewhere. I have a long weekend in front of me with nothing planned after all.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @CommonMugwort @bookstodon @Da_Gut it is, isn't it. :-)

I also got Paladin's Strength and Paladin's Hope by Kingfisher. I'd already listened to Paladin's Grace, which I thought was ok at the time, but sometimes you want to give a writer some extra time before you decide what you think.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon I really like them too, and am in the happy position of still having the last two to be read.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon Oh, no! Now you've done it. I thought I knew what to read next, but but ...
I'd already decided to finish The Realm of the Elderling series this year, but thought I'd do it a little later.
;-)

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon right, it's terrible. Good thing I have a four day weekend now, hopefully I'll be able to finish a few of the books I'm reading now. Then I will have to find that elusive thing called 'discipline', about as common as a unicorn round here, and actually not get distracted by suggestions here on Mastodon.

Some books make it impossible to pick another one up at once after you've finished it. They have to settle in you a bit first, before you're ready for the next.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon #Mastodon is amazing. I've never liked social networks much, but this, here I do like. Today has been a great Mastodon day for me.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon oh, and speaking of book recs. Which of your own books would you suggest I start with? Or should I just pick one?

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon Oh, I really didn't think you were. Please don't worry about that. I'm always happy try a writer that is new to me.
Both sound interesting but I'm not generally that interested in epic fantasy, I usually prefer more down to earth stuff, so Windward probably sounds more like my thing.
I'll just fire up my computer and nab a copy then.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon I suspect neither book would fit that exactly (definitely not one about dragons!), but I usually like books that are about fairly normal people, having dangerous but ultimately not too grand adventures. A focus on relationships and character development is something I often enjoy.

That said, I absolutely read things that tends to more High Fantasy Epic storytelling too.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @libreture @bookstodon @paracactus oh, this looks fantastic! Thank you for putting this together.

@skaeth this is probably what I meant by down to earth earlier.

jarulf,
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@skaeth @bookstodon Well, since you're basically giving the ebooks away for free right now, I picked up both. Just waiting for them to arrive now.
So now I have a few more books to agonize over trying to decide what to read next. 😉

I should probably quit Mastodon...

jarulf,
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@CommonMugwort @skaeth @Da_Gut @bookstodon The Penric stories are among my absolute favourites, and definitely worth looking into imo if you want something that's more about people than epic high fantasy.

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